This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on September 29, 2006. Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Who could resist Trisha Brown's ``Set and Reset''? The choreographer's fluid movement pairs with Robert Rauschenberg's translucent costumes and fleeting background images to create a ravishing, ephemeral world. This piece is just one of 30 items in ``Fall for Dance,'' City Center's ``tasting'' series. Now in its third year, the project is meant to lure people who don't yet love dancing. Six programs, each showcasing five … [Read more...]

This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on September 27, 2006. Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The stage is thickly strewn with blue and white bits of paper arranged in a mandala-like pattern of circles within squares. Ani Choying Dolma, a Buddhist nun, kneels at its center, singing and chanting, her voice alternately powerful and haunting. This is the hypnotic setting for Shen Wei's ``Re--,'' on view at the Joyce Theater through Sunday. The dreamlike mood is shattered as four dancers rush across the space, destroying … [Read more...]

This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on September 22, 2006. Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Four dancers stride across the stage, seeming oblivious to one another. Two collide violently, triggering entanglements and wild cantileverings that identify them as lovers one moment, enemies the next. This is the opening of Elisa Monte's new ``Hardwood,'' set to high-voltage, often haunting music by John King. The piece is featured in the 25th-anniversary program of Elisa Monte Dance, at the Joyce Theater through … [Read more...]

Traditionally, dancers--especially classical dancers, who commit to their profession in childhood or adolescence--had the reputation of being essentially physical creatures and thus nonverbal. Even when it was admitted that they might be intelligent, they were still often labeled "dumb" in the sense of "mute." This myth has constantly been challenged. Today, the argument for the articulate dancer is strengthened further by the fact that dancers in ever-increasing numbers are finding their voice through writing about dancing--and editing dance … [Read more...]

This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on September 15, 2006. Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Dancers in 18th-century dress playing ancient Greeks, socially pretentious Europeans and an occasional supernatural facilitator like Cupid will be celebrating Mozart's 250th birthday tonight and tomorrow at Florence Gould Hall. Catherine Turocy's esteemed New York Baroque Dance Company, which brings painstaking scholarship to life, is presenting ``Invisible Dances'' (a suite from the opera ``Idomeneo'') and ``Les Petits … [Read more...]

This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on September 8, 2006. Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- ``For a long time I wanted to do a show about underwear and armor,'' declares Valerie Steele, the erudite, ebullient director and chief curator of the Museum at FIT. The vivid result, ``Love & War: The Weaponized Woman,'' opens tomorrow and runs through Dec. 16. It juxtaposes the ``hard body,'' defended and protected, with the ``soft,'' which is vulnerable and seductive. Lingerie items range from conventionally sensuous … [Read more...]